Means for sealing containers



Jan. 25, 1938.

G. J. MEYER 2,106,464

MEANS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 15, 1935 .FIG. 2

I fll llllii 22 V 20 INVEN TOR j at. RNEY Patented Jan. 25, 1938 UNITED STA'IJES" PATENT OFFICE 2,106,464 I DEANS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS I George J. Meyer, Milwaukee, Wis. V

Application August 15,

2 Claims.

The invention relates to containers and closures therefor, and to a method of applying the closures.

An object of the invention is to provide a container and closure of inexpensive construction capable of simple application to each other to form a tight seal, the closure being readily removable from the container by various simple implements.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of applying a side-sealing sheet metal closure to a container.

The invention further consists in the several.

features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrating an embodiment and method of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation showing a sealed bottle constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the bottle, the applied closure thereof being shown in section, and in readiness for a dishing operation to produce the configuration shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the bottle, and

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view of the bottle neck.

In the drawing, I designates a container which for purposes of illustration is shown to be a bottle. The neck portion II of the bottle is provided with an exterior conical sealing surface I2 converging upwardly, the sealing surface being slightly tapered, preferably in the ratio of approximately 1 in 16.

A plurality of shallow peripheral grooves I3 are formed around the neck of the bottle at the sealing surface to form serrations with downwardly facing shoulders It, the purpose of the serrations being hereinafter explained. The sloping side wall of each peripheral groove is relatively steep and preferably terminates short of the downwardly facing shoulder of the next lower groove so as to leave an annular land around the bottle neck, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 4. The plane of each downwardly facing shoulder I 4 extends substantially at right angles to the axis of the bottle neck and forms an abrupt angle with the tapered sealing surface of the neck.

A plurality of spaced radial projections I5 are formed on the neck portion II of the bottle and present ledges It for receiving a prying implement I1, as hereinafter described. The ledges I6 are preferably arranged helically, so that they will lie at difierent elevations. The lower edges of the projections I! preferably form cam sur- 1935, Serial No. 36,264

faces It. The projections I5 protect the conical sealing surface from chipping-or other damage.

A closure is provided in the form of a cap I9 I having a cover portion 20 and a downwardly projecting skirt 2|, the skirt having substantially 5 the same taper as the sealing surface I2 of the bottle. The cap is preferably made of. sheet metal and is provided with a resilient liner or packing sheet 22 formed of paper, rubber or other suitable material, the liner being cemented or .otherwise firmly attached in place. The lower edge of the cap skirt is provided with a rolled head 23.

By means of a suitable simple tool or imple- ,ment, not shown, the closure cap is pressed onto 1 the bottle neck, the cap liner engaging the tapered sealing surface I2 of the bottle. The liner also engages the serrations I3, thereby considerably improving the hold or grip of the cap on the bottle neck, without injury to the liner. The

skirt of the cap, during application, slides readily over the steeply sloping side walls of the serration-forming grooves. During this operation the cover portion 20 of the cap is flat, as seen in Fig. 2. The pressing operation places the skirt 2| of the cap under peripheral tension, preferably without exceeding the elastic limit of the resilient sheet metal, and the resilient J metal adapts itself to the varying diameter or slight variations in curvature of the sealing surface of the bottle. Even if the sealing surface I2 is damaged, it will still have ample area for a perfect seal. Thereafter the deformable cover portion 20 of the closure cap is preferably dished to a permanent set, as by means of a suitable pressing tool 24 seen in Fig. 2. The dishing of the closure cap to the final and permanent form shown in Fig. 1 increases the peripheral tension in the upper'portion of the resilient cap skirt so as to substantially increase the holding pressure of the cap on the bottle neck.

The cap is retained in sealing engagement with the peripherally serrated bottle neckby the peripheral tension set up in the skirt of the resilient cap during the application of capping pressure. The fit of the closure cap on the bottle is sufilciently' tight so that it can withstand considerable internal pressure in the bottle, such as may exist when the bottle contains a carbonated beverage. The abrupt shoulders II of the peripheral grooves I3 resist withdrawal of the cap and improve the sealing effect.

The bead 23 of the applied cap is spaced upwardly from the highest of the ledges IE on the bottle neck, but the distance may vary because of slight differences in the bottles and in the caps. The bead prevents excessive stretching at the edge of the skirt, so that this edge is approximately as resistant to stretch as other portions of the skirt. The liner 22 may be comparatively thin because of the resilience and deformability of thesheet metal cap.

To loosen or remove the cap, the prying implement ll, which may be a coin or other convenient object, is inserted between one of theof a container having an exterior tapered sealing surface to receive said cap and having circumferential s'erration-forming grooves in said sealing surface, each groove presenting an abrupt downwardly facing shoulder at its upper edge and a steeply sloping side wall extending to said sealing surface and forming the lower portion of said groove.

2. The combination, with a closure cap having a skirt, of a container having an exterior tapered sealing surface to tightly receive said cap thereon, said sealing surface having at an intermediate portion thereof a circumferential groove presenting an abrupt downwardly facing sharpedged skirt-engaging shoulderat its upper edge and a steeply sloping side wall extending to said sealing surface and forming tlfi lower portion of said groove, whereby to offer greater resistance to the withdrawal of the cap than to the application of the cap.

GEORGE J. MEYER. 

